DEF CON is one of the oldest continuous running hacker conventions around, and also one of the largest. With the combnation of Black Hat & DEF CON, this is the one week out of the year that most hackers and security professionals mark on their calendars well in advance.

I'm a bit disappointed it's at the Rio again. We had terrible luck with the food last year. We actually got so frustrated that we took a cab to El Pollo Loco just to get away from it. There were probably better options around, but in our defense, we may not have been completely sober at the time.

Also, we knew it was going to be crowded, but it really was disappointing how difficult it was to get into the talks. We went into one right before it finished (after about a 90 minute wait) because we wanted to see the next talk, and then everyone was forced out of the auditorium so the next group could come in. After that, we tried to watch a few talks in our room, but the experience was kind of... lacking. Even with an abundance of vodka.

It wasn't all bad though. Hanging out with Don, Hit Monkey, and various others was a blast. If I go this year, I'll probably budget some training dollars and focus on that instead of the overcrowded talks. It's too bad B-Sides stuck with the first week of August and won't run concurrently again. It would have been fun to sneak over to that while in town.

Anyway, just though I'd pop in to say I'll be in vegas for DC. I got to meet Eth3real and tturner at Shmoo. Eth3real and I kind of joined forces for a picking competition at Shmoo, parted ways, both started local locksport chapters, and we plan to rule Black Bag at Defcon!

I'm also going to be at LockCon the week before, and Derby in Sept. Let's toast!

rance, Shmoo was pretty awesome. I wasn't planning on doing the lockpicking competition until you asked me. I had to spend the next 30 minutes picking as many locks as possible because I had been out of practice. If ShmooCon prompted me to start a TOOOL chapter, what kind of craziness is DEFCON going to spawn?

eth3real wrote:rance, Shmoo was pretty awesome. I wasn't planning on doing the lockpicking competition until you asked me. I had to spend the next 30 minutes picking as many locks as possible because I had been out of practice. If ShmooCon prompted me to start a TOOOL chapter, what kind of craziness is DEFCON going to spawn?

Don, do we have EH Net shirts, yet?

I think we both did that "oh crap, gotta warm up!" thing... I've hardly had any time to practice the past month or so, might have a rough go of it at lockcon. I'm sure I'll be in my hotel room at night with some practice locks. We have our meet tonight, so hopefully I can get some time with the tools this eve.

I wanted to let those going to DefCon know about a couple "official events" going on at the convention.

First one is the "Be the Match" donor registration drive. I started this event at DC18, and so far we have had 250 join the registry, and we actually have had one person who signed up at DefCon be selected to donate bone marrow to a patient in need. This event can be found at:https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=635

The second event that I'm helping organize is the "BloodKode Challenge" (blood drive). This is the second year of the drive, and I was able to get two days blocked out for blood donations (last year they showed up for half a day). You can sign up online to schedule your donation time during the convention (slots going fast, so don't hesitate... do it now) - information about the event and how to pre-register can be found here:https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=655

And as an added bonus, if you participate in either of these events, you could receive access to the Ninja Networks party (and for those who have never been, you've missed a HELL OF A PARTY!!!). For specifics on this, visit the following:https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=13006

Grendel wrote:I wanted to let those going to DefCon know about a couple "official events" going on at the convention.

First one is the "Be the Match" donor registration drive. I started this event at DC18, and so far we have had 250 join the registry, and we actually have had one person who signed up at DefCon be selected to donate bone marrow to a patient in need. This event can be found at:https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=635

The second event that I'm helping organize is the "BloodKode Challenge" (blood drive). This is the second year of the drive, and I was able to get two days blocked out for blood donations (last year they showed up for half a day). You can sign up online to schedule your donation time during the convention (slots going fast, so don't hesitate... do it now) - information about the event and how to pre-register can be found here:https://forum.defcon.org/forumdisplay.php?f=655

And as an added bonus, if you participate in either of these events, you could receive access to the Ninja Networks party (and for those who have never been, you've missed a HELL OF A PARTY!!!). For specifics on this, visit the following:https://forum.defcon.org/showthread.php?t=13006

You really won't want to miss this opportunity... seriously.

I signed up for Be The Match last year, didn't get no super secret ninja party invite though